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Lat., long.38.47491, 43.48882, in the vicinity of Van in Turkey
I saw this when hiking. I want to know what it is and what are the dangers it poses. Lots of people hike that area in spring and summer, villagers collect edible plants in the area and graze livestock there.
This is most likely a small slump scar modified by later erosion. If you look at the feature from a different angle in Google Earth, you will see that it's not even circular. It's more of a teardrop-ey crescent Moon shape, with the concave part downslope from the convex part. The bottom edge and top edge used to match up before the slide.
Given there is no raised rim around the hole, it is not meteorite crater.
It is difficult to be certain given the perspective view in the picture, but it appears to be sink hole, also known as a subsidence hole. More pictures of the area & even an aerial view would help significantly.
If the region has a history of underground mining, the hole may be due to the collapse of underground openings resulting in subsidence on the surface.
If the is no history of mining in the region then an opening may have been created underground, by subterranean water sources and the surface material has subsided or sunk into the hole.
Another possibility is that the hole is a bomb crater produced by the military. This could occur if the site was used as a bombing range by the Turkish air force. Also, given the proximity of the area to Kurdish regions, another possibility is that a bomb could have been dropped during a battle with Kurdish or similar forces.
